Network functions and services have traditionally been provided on dedicated and proprietary hardware appliances. Examples of such network functions, also known as Physical Network Functions, include firewalls, load balancers, Deep Packet Inspectors, and Network Address Translators, to name just a few. Traditionally, physical network functions require physical installation at each site where such functions are needed. “Network Functions Virtualization” is an emerging design approach, particularly in the telecommunications industry, to transform physical network functions into “Virtual Network Functions” by implementing physical network functions as software which can be hosted and run a range of standard hardware, such as blade servers, for example.